You must read this guide, provided you are a Windows user. Though there are thousands of articles available, what sets this apart from the crowd is this is specially written by tweakwindows!. This guide will show you how to decrease the boot time of Windows to 10seconds. Let's start with the basics first.

1.Go to fonts folder. To open fonts folder, just type "fonts" in the Vista Start Menu or in Run dialog box.

2.Delete useless fonts that you won't use. For those who don't know, Windows takes enough amount of time to load all fonts during the boot process. Installing more than 100 fonts will significantly reduce your system boot speed.

3.Next major time killers are startup programs.These startup programs not only increases the boot time but also frustrates with pop ups in your system tray. Open "System Configuration" by typing "msconfig"(without quotes) in the Vista Start Menu Search box or in the Run dialog box. Under the "Startup" tab remove the programs which are not necessary at startups(Ex:Pc Suite, Pc Sync, Realtek voice manager). However, I prefer no programs at startup.

5.This tweak is only for Vista with multicore processors (Dual, quad and octa core processors). Under the "Boot" tab of "System Configuration", open the option named "Advanced options", check the box named "Number of processors" and select the number of processors you have.Click "Apply".

7.Download a free utility called "Bootvis" from here(works only for XP). Extract and unzip the file to Desktop and run the Bootvis.Go to Trace > Boottime+driver delays and reboot the system. Wait for a while to get further message and instruction from bootvis to proceed.Worst part is it doesn't work with Vista.

8.Use the boot defragmentation feature in Winows. To enable go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction In the right side pane, right click on the option "Enable" and select "Modify". Type in "Y' to enable boot defrgmentation.

9.Defrag your C drive using Vista's in-built tool. If you think the Vista's in-built defragger is slow, you can use the free Defraggler software from here.

10.Fix all your registry errors with a freeware tool called CCleaner. Keeping the registry clean will boost your system performance dramatically.

11.If you dual boot, select the default operating system to boot and also, lower the amount of time to wait for you make a selection.

12.If you are not using Floppy drive, disable it in the BIOS. If your BIOS supports Quick Post and Disabling Boot Delay, just enable those features.

13.One more boot time killer is Startup sound. You can disable this as follows:type "mmsys.cpl" in the run dialog box and hit enter. Navigate to "Sounds" tab and disable the option called "Play Windows Startup Sound"(only in Vista). In Xp, use the option named "No Sounds" from the drop down menu in the "Sounds" tab.

14.Never use third-party boot and logon screens as they slow down your boot process significantly.